The Informed American

Who knew Irish Spring soap was good for more than just keeping you clean and smelling good?

As it turns out, the strong-smelling soap can be used to keep herbivores like deer and rabbits away from your garden by cutting a bar into pieces, stuffing the pieces in socks and stapling the socks to stakes.

If you notice your garden plants have damaged leaves and stems, pests may be to blame. Herbivores, such as deer and rabbits, can do significant damage to garden plants, like young flowers, clovers, fruits and vegetables, if left unattended.

If you suspect such pest are to blame for damaged foliage, inspect the leaves; unlike insects that leave jagged edges on half-eaten leaves, mammals, like rabbits, leave a clean cut or devour the foliage completely. To keep pesky mammals at bay, Irish Spring soap can be added to your garden as an inexpensive repellent, since animals find the stench unpleasant.

1.) Slice the Irish Spring soap bar into 1/2-inch cubes with a knife. These do not have to be exact, but you’ll want many small chunks to spread around your garden.

2.) Drop two pieces of soap into each drawstring pouch, pull strings tightly to close, and tie the strings in a knot to secure the soap inside.

3.) Staple one drawstring pouch to the end of each wooden stake with a staple gun. Drive the opposite end of each stake 6 inches into the ground in 5- to 10-foot increments around your garden. Concentrate stakes in areas with thick vegetation or in spots you’ve noticed often are damaged by pests. Alternatively, lay the drawstring pouches under and around the vegetation for a more discrete solution.

4.) Monitor the garden over the course of the next week for signs of damaged or eaten plants. The amount of Irish Spring soap you need to ward off pests depends on the size of your garden, and the population of local deer, rabbits and other animals, so be ready to add more stakes to target heavily-trafficked zones.

Things You Will Need

Knife

Small (2-inch by 2-inch) fabric drawstring pouches

Wooden stakes (12-by-1-by-1 inches or similar)

Staple gun or duct tape

Cheesecloth (optional)

String (optional)

Tip:

Irish Spring soap repels mammal pests, such as mice, rabbit and deer. It does not repel insect pests. Irish Spring soap does not always eliminate pests completely , but can be a helpful tool to reduce the rate of attack on plants. Wrap Irish Spring soap in cheesecloth and secure it with string to form a pouch if fabric drawstring bags are unavailable.